A very-pregnant Yasselyn Martinez was at a hospital Monday afternoon when she realized that her baby was on his way.

Her water broke just after she paid her last respects to the child's paternal great-grandfather, who was removed from life support at Ben Taub General Hospital.

Later that evening, the contractions strengthened. She went to St. Joseph Medical Center in downtown Houston and asked for an epidural around 11 p.m.

Thirty seconds into Tuesday, Martinez delivered the first Houston-area baby of 2013. (He was due two days before Christmas.)

"I didn't think I was going to make it until 12. I was ready to push. I was ready for something to happen. But, no, it happened right at 12," she said, gushing over Jesse Cervantez Jr., who weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and stretched out 21 inches. "I just saw all the nurses screaming and yelling 'Happy New Year' and 'Happy birthday' and I was like 'Whoa. We made it!' "

Jesse Cervantez, 25, became a senior early Tuesday. The couple plans to call Jesse Jr. "Baby J" and maybe "JJ."

The delivery was distinctly different from Martinez's no-surprises induced labor five years ago with daughter, Melanie, who also was born at St. Joseph.

Houston's oldest hospital has delivered the first baby for the second year running. In 2012, a young couple who planned to ring in the new year at a relative's house became the parents of a baby girl at 57 minutes after midnight.

The women's center at St. Joseph manages about 5,000 births annually, ranking it among the 20 busiest maternity wards in Texas.

The very-first-of-the-year arrival was a unique experience for Dr. Nicholas Stephanou, who has practiced obstetrics and gynecology at St. Joseph for nearly four decades.

"About five minutes before midnight somebody mentioned that the delivery could be the area's first in 2013," the doctor said. "The room was packed. ... All the nurses were there. The residents were even in there."

Stephanou asked for someone to alert him when the time was 15 seconds before midnight.

"So, the only planning that occurred was in the last two minutes," the 72-year-old physician said. "The baby's head was right there. She pushed one time and we had the baby within 30 seconds. It was like a perfect storm, and it just kind of worked out OK."

The jubilant delivery of a healthy baby boy lifted a family jolted by loss. Around 10 p.m. Monday, the baby's great-grandfather died.

Cervantez said his grandfather, who helped raised him, had been sick for two years.

"It's sad, but it's also joyful. I'm glad my son is here. It was almost on the same day - just hours away," he said.

The great-grandfather, who had been in transition for about a week with paralysis and declining blood pressure, knew that Martinez was having a boy.

While praying in the hospital room on Monday, the 24-year-old bank teller placed her hand on the man's forehead.